Dakkapedia
Getting started
A practical, beginner-friendly on-ramp to Warhammer 40,000 11th edition — how to start, what to buy, how to build and paint, and how to play your first games. Sourced from in-vault deep research (2026-06-21); product prices and points are current-at-launch and may drift.
Three ways to start
Armageddon launch boxThe flagship two-player 11th-edition starter set, Space Marines vs Orks, with around 61 push-fit miniatures plus the lore book, Core Rules booklet, mission and campaign card decks, and datasheet cards. It runs about $295 / £185 and is best if you have a friend to split it with, since it gives you two whole armies in one purchase.
Combat Patrol boxesSelf-contained one-box armies (roughly 10-34 models, around 500 points) with a pre-defined roster and no list-building, plus their own fast, streamlined Combat Patrol game mode. At about $170 / £100 each, this is the recommended budget entry: pick a faction you love and you have a ready-to-play force you can grow later.
Free Core RulesYou do not need to buy any box to get the rules. Games Workshop publishes the full Core Rules as a free PDF on the Warhammer Community downloads page, and the official Warhammer 40,000 app serves the rules plus every unit's datasheet for free. Paid books only add lore, detachments, and crusade content.
Choosing your first army
How to decideWeigh three factors together — playstyle (melee, gunline, psychic tricks, few elite models), complexity and budget, and aesthetic. The most-repeated advice in the hobby is to pick the army you love the look of, because if you don't love the models you won't finish building and painting them.
Beginner-friendly factionsSpace Marines are the default pick — durable, simple, flexible, and the best-supported with tutorials and starter products. Necrons are tough and easy to paint, and their Reanimation Protocols bring dead models back so mistakes hurt less. Orks, T'au, Death Guard, and Tyranids are also forgiving thanks to toughness, simple rules, or sheer numbers.
Complex factions and whySave the demanding armies until you know the game. The common thread is fragility, layered rules, or logistical load: Drukhari and Aeldari/Harlequins are glass cannons that punish one mistake, Astra Militarum buries you in 80-150+ models and an Orders system, and Custodes/Grey Knights field so few elite models that losing even one hurts.
Horde vs eliteAt the same 2,000 points, ultra-elite armies like Knights field 4-8 models while a horde like Guard fields 80-150+. Fewer models means a tiny painting load but every loss stings; more models is a bigger time-and-money grind but forgiving on the table. A balanced faction (Space Marines, Necrons, T'au) of 40-70 models is the recommended sweet spot.
What you actually need (kit checklist)
DiceStandard six-sided D6 are all you need — 15-20+ to start, with shooty armies wanting 30-40 for big handfuls of fire. Cheap matching square-edge dice are nice for fast-rolling large pools.
MeasuringEverything is measured in inches, so bring a tape measure. Games Workshop also sells pre-cut range gauges (1/2/3/6/9 inch) that speed up movement and ranges.
Dice trayOptional but recommended — it keeps your rolls off your terrain and models and makes results easy for both players to read.
Board sizesCombat Patrol is played on a 44 by 30 inch board; the standard Strike Force (2,000 points) board is 44 by 60 inches. A kitchen table is perfectly fine to learn on.
TrackersUse dice, dials, or tokens to track each unit's wounds and your pool of Command Points so nothing gets forgotten mid-turn.
No templates needed40k has been template-free since 8th edition, and 11th keeps it that way. There are no blast, flamer, or scatter templates — Blast simply adds attacks based on the target unit's size and Torrent weapons auto-hit.
Assembly & tools
Clippers and knifePlastic kits come as flat frames with parts attached by small gates. Clip parts off (flat side of the cutters facing the part), leaving a tiny nub, then trim it flush with a hobby knife — don't cut hard against the part or you'll leave white stress marks.
Mould linesThin raised ridges mark where the mould halves met, and they become obvious once paint highlights them. Remove them before assembly and priming using a mould-line scraper (more beginner-safe than a knife) in light passes; you can often feel the ridge before you see it.
Glue — the key rulePlastic cement is a solvent that welds plastic into one piece — use it for all plastic-to-plastic joins, and less is more. Super glue is a surface adhesive needed for metal, resin, magnets, basing, and painted parts. The rule: plastic to cement, metal/resin to super glue, and never use super glue where cement works.
Push-fit vs multipartPush-fit (Easy to Build) kits snap together with no glue and are found in starter boxes — beginner-friendly but limited posing. Multipart kits have far more parts and customizing options, need glue, and take longer. Start with push-fit and graduate to multipart.
Sub-assembliesBuild and paint sections separately — body, arms, cloak, weapons — then join them, so your brush can reach hidden areas. Dry-fit first, and scrape paint off the contact surfaces before cementing since cement needs bare plastic.
MagnetizingEmbedding small neodymium magnets lets you swap weapon loadouts instead of building duplicates. Watch the polarity — mark one face and let the mating magnet snap on naturally before gluing, or the halves will repel.
BasingFinish the base so it isn't a bare disc. The easiest route is texture paint (spread, dry, wash, drybrush, add tufts), then paint the rim black for a finished look. Basing after painting the model is usually easier.
Painting to get started
Battle Ready standardBattle Ready is Games Workshop's official entry-level standard: main areas coloured plus a simple finished base. It's ready-to-game, not a showpiece, and the community baseline is three colours minimum with no bare plastic.
The painting VP bonusIn 11th-edition matched play, an army painted to Battle Ready is reported to earn +10 bonus Victory Points at game's end — but every model must qualify, as partial painting earns nothing. Verify this against the live Core Rules and current Event Companion before relying on it at a tournament.
Speed methodsCitadel Contrast is a pigment-heavy paint that basecoats, shades, and highlights in one coat over the right primer. Slapchop primes black, drybrushes up to a white zenithal highlight, then applies Contrast over it so the greyscale shows through as built-in shadows — both let you paint whole armies fast without an airbrush.
Thin your paintsThe golden rule of miniature painting: two or more thin coats always beat one thick one, keeping detail crisp and coverage smooth.
Minimal kitThe best from-scratch buy is the Warhammer 40,000 Paints + Tools set. You really only need a few brushes — one medium workhorse, a detail brush, and a cheap old brush for drybrushing — and start synthetic, since beginners ruin expensive sable brushes fast. (See the dedicated painting page for the full deep dive.)
What it costs to start
From-scratch budgetA complete first army from scratch runs about $320 / £205: one Combat Patrol (~$170 / £100), essential tools (~$40 / £30), paints, brushes, and primer (~$85 / £60), and an optional Core Rules paperback (~$25 / £15).
The floorSince datasheets and the Core Rules are free in the official app, skipping the paperback drops the floor to roughly $295 / £190. All-budget tools and a hardware-store primer can trim another $30-50.
Tools and paintsBare-minimum tools to start building — clippers, plastic glue, mould-line remover, and a knife — run about $35-55 / £25-40. Painting from zero (the Paints + Tools set, a spray, and an extra brush or wash) lands around $80-85 / £55-60.
Buy from independentsBuying direct from Games Workshop means full RRP, but independent and online stockists routinely discount around 15-25% off — Element Games, Wayland, Firestorm, and others, often with loyalty points on top. That's an easy way to save hundreds across a full army.
Your first games & etiquette
Agree the game firstSettle on the points, mission, terrain, and competitiveness level before you deploy. Mismatched expectations cause most bad games, so this conversation up front is the single most important habit. Start small — Combat Patrol (~500 points, 45-90 minutes) is the purpose-built on-ramp.
Pre-measurePre-measuring is allowed in modern 40k, so use it rather than guessing, and measure the same way every time. Consistent, careful measurement keeps the game fair and friendly.
Declare intentionsBefore your hand touches a model, your opponent should know what you're doing, and you should declare what you're rolling for before you roll. Separate hits and misses clearly and roll into a tray.
WYSIWYGWhat You See Is What You Get — models should represent their actual wargear. Casual play is loose and proxies are fine if you clearly tell your opponent up front; tournaments are strict and proxies need approval from the organizer.
Don't slow-playKeep things moving and use your opponent's turn to plan your own, rather than burying yourself in your phone or rulebook. Be a gracious winner and loser, and play through bad dice.
Find a place to playGames Workshop stores offer structured intro and learn-to-play games plus painting help; independent game stores (FLGS) often have larger gaming areas and broader communities; and local clubs give weekly consistency. Use the Store Finder or search Facebook/Reddit, and just say 'I'm new' so people adjust and help.
Digital tools
Official Warhammer appFree with no subscription, it serves the full Core Rules, Index datasheets for every army, and the Combat Patrol rules. Battle Forge is its built-in army/list builder, and 11th edition adds a War Journal to generate missions, pick terrain, and track Victory Points.
Warhammer+ paywallThe free tier keeps Core Rules, Index datasheets, and Combat Patrol available, but full Battle Forge features and Codex content sit behind the paid Warhammer+ subscription (around £4/month or £25/year). Confirm the exact gating in-app, as it can shift between editions.
New RecruitThe free community list-builder at newrecruit.eu is now the primary platform for building lists and is the recommended choice for beginners.
WahapediaA fast, free, unofficial reference (wahapedia.ru) with all rules, datasheets, stratagems, and points in one place — the best 'what's the rule right now?' lookup. Cross-check points against the app or Munitorum Field Manual for tournaments.
BattleScribe's declineBattleScribe was the old standard list-builder but is now in decline, with its creator inactive and its data struggling to stay current. Expect it to break over time and prefer New Recruit instead.